U.S. v. State of Miss., 76-4398
| Decision Date | 01 February 1978 |
| Docket Number | No. 76-4398,76-4398 |
| Citation | 567 F.2d 1276 |
| Parties | UNITED STATES of America, Plaintiff-Appellant, v. The STATE OF MISSISSIPPI et al. (Laurel Municipal Separate School District), Defendants-Appellees. |
| Court | U.S. Court of Appeals — Fifth Circuit |
J. Stanley Pottinger, Asst. Atty. Gen., U. S. Dept. of Justice, Thomas M. Keeling, Steven H. Gurwin, Ed. Section, Civil Rights Div., Dept. of Justice, Washington, D. C., Robert E. Hauberg, U. S. Atty., Jackson, Miss., Brian K. Landsberg, Dept. of Justice, Washington, D. C., for plaintiff-appellant.
William Deavours, Laurel, Miss., for defendants-appellees.
Appeal from the United States District Court for the Southern District of Mississippi.
Before COLEMAN, TJOFLAT, and FAY, Circuit Judges.
This school desegregation case was orally argued in New Orleans on December 16, 1977. We remand for further proceedings.
The case involves the desegregation of the elementary schools of the Laurel Municipal School District, Laurel, Mississippi.
The most recent order of the District Court discussed in detail the rather extreme physical difficulties involved in the desegregation of these facilities. The daily safety of the elementary school students in going from one facility to another is involved. The District Court came to no resolution of the difficulties and, to date, the arrangement of the elementary school system has remained unchanged for about seven years.
The latest available statistics on the racial composition of these schools reflect the following:
Black White
----- -----
Mason
Elementary 5 299
Lamar
Elementary 44 186
Prentiss
Elementary 7 233
Stainton
Elementary 78 182
Nora Davis
Elementary 308 0
Sandy Gavin
Elementary 306 0
Oak Park
Elementary 350 0
These statistics reflect that three of the seven elementary schools are all black. Except for twelve students, Mason and Prentiss are all white.
In this state of the record, we have no choice but to remand the case to the District Court for further proceedings, see, e. g., Lee v. Demopolis City School System, 5 Cir. 1977, 557 F.2d 1053; United States v. Columbus Municipal Separate School District, 5 Cir. 1977, 558 F.2d 228. 1
We indicate no opinion as to which, if any, of the desegregation alternatives are to be used keeping in mind, however, the requirements of the Constitution and the best interests of the educable children. We are not unaware of...
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Davis v. East Baton Rouge Parish School Bd.
...28 L.Ed.2d 554 (1971). See also, Green v. County School Board, 391 U.S. 430, 88 S.Ct. 1689, 20 L.Ed.2d 716 (1968); United States v. Mississippi, 567 F.2d 1276 (5th Cir. 1978). There is a presumption under Swann against the maintenance of a school system with substantially one-race schools. ......
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Davis v. East Baton Rouge Parish Sch. Bd., Civ. A. No. 1662.
...U.S. 1, 91 S.Ct. 1267, 28 L.Ed.2d 554 (1971); Lee v. Demopolis City School System, 557 F.2d 1053 (5th Cir. 1977); United States v. Mississippi, 567 F.2d 1276 (5th Cir. 1978). Indeed, this very case was reversed and remanded because of the continued existence of one-race schools. See, Davis ......
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U.S. v. Board of Ed. of Valdosta, Georgia, 76-3024
...to create a unitary school system in Valdosta. We note with approval the declaration of this court in United States v. State of Mississippi (Laurel), 5 Cir., 1978, 567 F.2d 1276, 1277, that a "fresh approach may offer a better solution, but solution must indeed be found . . On remand, this ......